The Leshan Giant Buddha, Chengdu, China

Seated, straight backed and more stern than in many of his other incarnations, the giant Buddha at Leshan is the world’s tallest stone Buddha coming in at 71 metres high, perfectly proportioned, each finger around three metres long. The statue is Maitreya, a plump cheerful monk always seen seated. It took 90 years for thousands or workers to create the statue which was finally finished in 803; as well as being big Maitreya is also detailed, with chearly ridged finger nails and more than a thousand inserts making up the coiled buns of his hair. He also has a cleverly hidden drainage system of channels running down his head and arms which keep him dry inside and help protect him from damage. Carved into a wooded orange cliff, the junction of the Dadu, Minjiang and Qingyi Rivers swirls around the ledge his feet rest on and he stares off towards Mount Emei, the people walking around his base not even reaching past the base of his vast platform flip flops. Hai Tong was the monk who conceived the scheme to build him, arguing that the power of the Buddha would help to calm the turbulent waters where the rivers join, it turns out that this was in part effective - all the rock from the excavations went into the rivers decreasing their ferocity